We’re all in this together?

Tell that to the big players at COP21 in Paris. Nations most at risk have pledged 100 percent renewable energy by 2050 — will the big countries step up?

We in Paris at the climate summit, and people all over the world, are hoping for a giant leap for humanity. Some of us are here officially. I and tens of thousands of others knew we had to show up, to witness, to speak, to act, to do whatever it takes to give courage to the negotiators, to each other, and to everyone after this week.

At the COP21 Green Zone and in venues all over Paris, I’ve been energized connecting with so many people from so many places who share a sense of urgency. I’ve been inspired meeting young adults postponing their life plans to devote themselves to climate activism. And I’ve been sobered talking with people whose relatives died from climate-fueled extreme weather. For them, climate change is not an abstract or future problem. Their countries are washing away.

Is there a connection between climate change and how we respond to millions of refugees in a world with unacceptable inequality, and how we in the U.S. have begun to say Black Lives Matter? Could addressing climate change become the driver to make every life count?